MLS NEXT Pro New England Revolution II

Revolution II Battles FC Cincinnati 2 to a 5-5 Draw

Published on April 30, 2023 under MLS NEXT Pro (MLS NEXT Pro)
New England Revolution II News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - New England Revolution II (3-2-1; 12 pts.) played FC Cincinnati 2 (2-1-2; 8 pts.) to a 5-5 draw before winning the penalty kick shootout, 5-4, to secure the extra point. Marcos Dias and Damian Rivera both notched braces while Jordan Adebayo-Smith tallied his third goal of the season in the match.

Rivera found the scoresheet first burying a right-footed shot from the left side of the box in the 16th minute with fellow Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou distributing the assist on the tally. Dias doubled New England's lead three minutes later, scoring on a penalty kick opportunity for his first of the season.

Cincinnati scored two of its own in the 22nd and 31st minutes to even the scoring, but Adebayo-Smith netted New England's third goal of the match and his third of the season just before halftime, sending a left-footed shot into the center of the goal with Rivera adding on an assist to his night.

Cincinnati tied the score again in the 53rd minute and took the lead in the 61st minute as the back-and-forth action continued. Rivera evened the score back up in the 75th minute with another right-footed shot sent into the left side of the net to secure the second brace of his career with Revolution II.

Adebayo-Smith drew a penalty in the box in the 85th minute as Dias would step up to take his second penalty kick of the night to secure a brace of his own. In the 90th minute, Pierre Cayet attempted to block a cross in the box from Cincinnati, but the ball bounced off his foot and into the back of New England's net, giving each team five goals apiece heading into the penalty kick shootout.

Dias, Adebayo-Smith, Panayotou, Peyton Miller, and Ben Awashie all tallied as Max Weinstein made the stop on Cincinnati's Nicholas Samways to secure Revolution II's first shootout victory of 2023. With a combined 10 goals between both teams, tonight's match becomes the highest scoring game in MLS NEXT Pro history to date.

New England now begins a three-game road stretch, returning to action on Saturday, May 6 with a visit to New York City FC II at Belson Stadium. The 5 p.m. match will stream live on MLSNEXTPro.com.

New England Revolution II 5 (5), FC Cincinnati 5 (4)

April 30, 2023 - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)

Homegrown midfielder Damian Rivera tallied twice for the second brace of his career with Revolution II and added on his second assist of the season on Jordan Adebayo-Smith's goal. The Cranston, R.I. native recorded a team-high six shots with four on target.

Forward Marcos Dias scored two penalty-kick goals, recording the sixth brace in team history, and recorded an assist on Rivera's second goal.

Homegrown midfielder Jack Panayotou earned his second assist of the season on Rivera's first goal.

Goalkeeper Max Weinstein made six saves in the match.

Academy defender Peyton Miller made his first start with the team since his call-up to the U-17 USYNT, recording four shots and tallying New England's fourth goal in the shootout.

Midfielder Ben Awashie scored the final goal to secure the shootout victory after coming into the match as a substitute in the 63rd minute.

GAME CAPSULE

Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

Assistant Referees:Justen Lopez, Robert Cordrey

Fourth Official: Kenneth Rojas

Weather: 54 and rain

Scoring Summary:

NE - Damian Rivera (Jack Panayotou) 16'

NE - Marcos Dias (PK) 19'

CIN - Quimi Ordoñez 22'

CIN - Quimi Ordoñez 32'

NE - Jordan Adebayo-Smith (Damian Rivera) 41'

CIN - Salim Adams (Jesús Castellano) 53'

CIN - Kai Thomas (Jordi Govea) 61'

NE - Damian Rivera 75'

NE - Marcos Dias (PK) 85'

CIN - Pierre Cayet (OG) 90'

Misconduct Summary:

NE -Ben Awashie (Yellow Card) 72'

CIN - Stiven Jiminez (Yellow Card) 79'

New England Revolution II: Max Weinstein; Peyton Miller, Pierre Cayet, Tiago Suarez (Colby Quiñones 71'), Victor Souza; Josh Bolma (Ben Awashie 63'), Damian Rivera, Jack Panayotou; Marcos Dias, Malcolm Fry, Jordan Adebayo-Smith.

Substitutes Not Used: Nico Campuzano, Jacob Akanyirige, Jake Rozhansky, Nakye Greenidge-Duncan, Brandonn Bueno, Weverton.

FC Cincinnati 2: Paul Walters; Jordi Govea (Haroun Conteh 77'), Isaiah Foster, Kai Thomas, Joey Akpunonu; Bret Halsey (Nicholas Samways 63'), Stiven Jiminez, Salim Adams; Dado Valenzuela (Benjamin Stitz 77'), Jesús Castellano, Quimi Ordoñez.

Substitutes Not Used: David Garcia, Hunter Morse, Darrell Turcios.

New England Revolution II Team Statistics FC Cincinnati 2

23 (9) Shots (on Target) 19 (10)

7 Blocked Shots 5

6 Saves 4

5 Corner Kicks 10

2 Offsides 9

8 Fouls 13

333 (79%) Passes Attempted (% Completed) 441 (85.9%)

43.2% Possession 56.8%

POSTGAME QUOTES: New England Revolution II vs. FC Cincinnati 2

Revolution II Head Coach Clint Peay

On the high-scoring game:

Peay: "I think at the end of the day, we were fortunate or they [FC Cincinnati 2] were fortunate. I don't know what to say. We weren't very good in terms of executing some moments, and I thought we gifted them a few goals where I felt like we earned our goals. Obviously, they had some other chances, but the goals they did score, we made some mistakes that cost us. We've got to obviously do better as we move forward."

On team's offensive mindset going into the game:

Peay: "I think we understood how they wanted to play and defend, and we understood where we would get at them and we were able to, and the goals came. There could have been more goals if our final product was even better."

On his pregame message to Damian Rivera:

Peay: "We actually had a conversation yesterday and it's always frustrating and difficult for the player to have to play second team minutes sometimes, but those minutes are important and valuable to keep him [Damian Rivera] sharp, to keep him growing as a player. And we just talked about having the right mentality, expressing himself the way he can, and being a difference maker. And he was that for us tonight."

On Marcos Dias' confidence:

Peay: "I think it's great. Obviously, no easy task to score two goals and then one in the shootout, but he [Marcos Dias] did very well. I think moving forward, hopefully for anyone who's a goal scorer, breaking the seal helps their confidence and helps them feel like 'hey, this is possible, and I want to do more of this,' so just keep pushing on."

Revolution II Forward Jordan Adebayo-Smith:

On playing in a high-scoring game:

Adebayo-Smith: "I've never been in a game like that. I feel like a lot of transitional game, so it was just up and down, but if we learn how to control the games, maybe we won't concede as much."

On takeaways from the performance:

Adeabyo-Smith: "A lot of positives. We scored five goals, that's a big positive. We made a couple mistakes trying to play out of the back [against] a high press team, but I feel like we can learn from that, looking to the video and then take that into the next game knowing that if a team is going to press us high, we have different solutions to break out."

On the attacking performance:

Adebayo-Smith: "I feel like especially against Red Bull last week we had a lot of chances, but we couldn't bury any of them, so today is a good sign showing that we can score goals. Five goals today shows that our team, attacking-wise, we can get the goals to get ahead."

On building relationships with the rest of the attackers:

Adeabyo-Smith: "I feel like I know everyone's tendencies in the game, like what everyone likes to do, how different players like to play, how I link up with different players. I feel like I just added more linkup play to my game, and keep running in behind. I feel like I'll always be a threat and the chances will always come."

On Damian Rivera:

Adebayo-Smith: "I feel like Tico [Damian Rivera] is very talented. Whenever he gets the ball, he can dribble past anyone. He slows down the ball, he can speed up. He helps start the attack, and he got the assist today for my goal, so he's going to help if he plays a lot with us this year, definitely."

Check out the New England Revolution II Statistics

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